


Gratitude

by expressivepokerface



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 06:24:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/expressivepokerface/pseuds/expressivepokerface
Summary: Akko has a habit of saying 'I love you' to show her gratitude, and Diana's poor heart does its best to cope.





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a series of Diana being a mess and struggling with a very bad case of The Feelings. This was inspired by a Ladybug-centric RWBY fic I read a while back that had 'marry me' instead of 'I love you' as the concept, its name is 'Verbal Tics, Physical Responses'. If you're interested in that sort of thing, go check it out!

The first time Diana heard those magical words, she had yet to truly understand just how amazing they were.

It happened a little after she and Akko had returned from Cavendish Manor. Diana had been taking a solitary walk for some peace and quiet when she’d stumbled upon Akko practising her magic. She watched from a distance as Akko passionately shouted out spells, only to have them either fizzle out into smoke, have completely different effects than intended, or flat-out explode in her face.

With each failed spell, Akko became visibly more frustrated with herself, frown deepening and shouts growing louder as she waved her wand around recklessly. If this kept going the way it was, she’d no doubt end up spinning that wand back towards the school and blowing up the wall behind her.

So, Diana made a decision.

Akko had seemed surprised and a little bit suspicious initially when Diana walked up, but that quickly changed into a friendly smile when it became clear that Diana was there to offer help and advice rather than any scornful words or snide comments.

So, for the next half-hour or so, every time Akko found herself feeling frustrated, Diana was there to offer gentle words of encouragement and guide her through what she could improve on, so she left each attempt with something more than she’d had before.

And, thanks to Diana’s advice and some time and effort, Akko finally managed to successfully cast a spell.

“I did it!” Akko spun around with an immensely proud grin, and Diana couldn’t help her own proud smile at the success. Just as she went to congratulate the other girl, Akko suddenly launched at her like a missile to wrap her in a bear-hug, nearly sending them both crashing into the ground if it wasn’t for Diana’s hasty footwork. “Thank you so much, Diana, I love you!”

Diana’s heart squeezed for reasons she didn’t understand, and she found her throat had suddenly gone dry.

“W-Well, i-it’s only natural that I help a f-fellow student when they’re in need, n-no?” She stuttered out, wondering where her ability to function like a normal human being had vanished off to. Akko giggled happily, and Diana’s heart squeezed yet again.

An unknown warmth sparked to life in her chest that day. Initially, she’d assumed it was simple happiness for Akko’s success.

Oh, how wrong she had been.

* * *

Diana knew she shouldn’t. Even as her emotions raged against her rational mind at the sight of Akko’s sad puppy-dog eyes, she remained strong. She wouldn’t give in so easily to impulse - she was _Diana Cavendish_, and a Cavendish did not give in to ill-thought-out whims.

But…she glanced to the side once more and met the eyes of a morose Akko, who had completely forgotten about the homework for their class. Now, Akko was desperately trying to rush through the homework sheet before the teacher arrived in the hopes of getting something more than a failing grade. From a glance, Diana could see that she hadn’t answered even a single question correctly yet.

…Would it really be so bad if she just…?

_No._ She couldn’t, _wouldn’t_, aid someone in cheating, even if they were a dear friend. Resolve renewed, Diana fixed her eyes firmly ahead, staring at the blackboard instead of Akko.

That resolve lasted about 3 seconds total, until Akko let out a particularly pitiful whimper and the resulting ache in Diana’s heart forced her hand.

Sighing, she silently slid her own, completed, homework over for the other girl to copy. Even as her rational mind was appalled that she had just encouraged cheating, the warmth that blossomed in her chest at the sight of Akko’s distress morphing into relieved joy shoved those thoughts aside with ease.

“I love youuu!” Akko half-sobbed, half-gushed in relief and joy.

Diana’s heart skipped a beat and she found the warmth was now overwhelming _all_ her thoughts, leaving her unable to think about anything except those words. Desperately, she tried to push down the heat that was rising in her cheeks. She failed.

“Y-You’re welcome.” Diana replied, voice most definitely _not_ pitching higher in the slightest. Looking away, she did her best to try and regain some semblance of calm. That, too, failed.

By now, she knew why those words affected her so deeply.

* * *

Diana leaned back from where she’d been stood over Akko at their table in the library, both because she was finally done with her task of helping Akko understand the subject she’d been struggling with, and because if she spent any longer in such close proximity to the other girl then she feared her emotions would begin rampaging yet again - already they were simmering under the surface, like an active volcano waiting to erupt.

But then, because the world couldn’t go a day without having Diana make a fool of herself in front of Akko, the moment she sat back down she yelped in surprise as she was yanked into a hug. Akko lay her cheek atop Diana’s head and spoke those accursed, blessed words that immediately cast Diana’s self-control and grip on her emotions into the void, never to be seen again.

“Love you, Diana!”

And _goodbye, _the last vestiges of her rationality, we hardly knew ye.

Barely even able to formulate a reply, Diana stammered out some variant of ‘anytime’ and made a hasty retreat. Thankfully, Akko didn’t seem to have noticed anything. At this rate though, it was only a matter of time before she caught on.

Briefly, Diana considered that maybe she should stop doing so many things for Akko, so she made less of a fool of herself. At this point, though, she couldn’t have stopped even if she’d tried - those wonderful words were a powerful drug, and she was addicted.

* * *

Diana stared at Akko. It was about all she could do past the static filling her mind.

“Well?” Akko asked with a toothy grin, pirouetting on the spot to show off her clothing. Her cheeks were dusted a charming red as those equally charming red eyes peeked up at Diana. “How do I look? Cute, right?”

Akko was bundled up in a thick red sweater, with dangling sleeves that were far too long for her arms. As well, wrapped around her neck was a white scarf adorned with star patterns that was also too big and concealed the bottom half of her face, emphasising those wide, enchanting eyes of hers. The cherry on top (or rather, the bottom) was the childish-but-incredibly-cute Shiny Chariot-themed socks that peeked out from underneath the bottom of her trousers.

Did it suit her? Well, quite frankly, it was one of the most adorable sights Diana’s eyes had ever been blessed to look upon. So, yes. Yes, it suited her very well indeed.

Honestly, had Diana known that Akko would look like this for their outing into Blytonbury, she would have refused for the sake of her continued sanity.

Faced with such inhuman levels of absolute adorableness, she genuinely feared that she might die of a cuteness-induced heart attack by the end of the day. Already her poor, weak heart was squeezing in sweet, sweet agony.

“…Diana?” Akko called out, waving a floppy sleeve in front of the still-staring blonde’s face. “Hellooo?”

It blocked Diana’s sight of Akko momentarily, giving her a much-needed moment of reprieve to gather her thoughts and realise that she had just been stood there _gawking silently!_ Hastily, she grasped for something to say.

“Y-You look l-lovely, Akko. It suits you very well.” It was only with a monumental force of willpower that she was able to keep her voice composed and her cheeks only semi-warm instead of fiery-hot. It wasn’t quite enough, however, to stop a stray thought from slipping through the cracks and escaping her mouth in a reverent whisper. “…Absolutely adorable.”

Diana immediately froze up in panic, dreading the worst, but Akko’s sunshine grin only grew larger.

“Aw, Diana, you’re so sweet!” Akko giggled, wrapping her floppy sleeves around Diana’s neck and burying her face into her shoulder. Diana felt Akko shift, before a pair of soft lips pecked her cheek. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something exploded violently. “Love you!”

…oh, by Jennifer, she was going to die.

As Akko kept giggling joyfully into Diana’s warm jacket, Diana found herself unable to do anything more than re-listen to those beautiful words as they echoed through her mind over and over, and unable to feel anything beyond the lingering sensation of where Akko’s lips had been a moment ago.

With how fast her heart was pumping, that heart attack wasn’t looking too unlikely. But…if the last thing she saw before it took her was this absolute pinnacle of cuteness, if the last thing she heard were those amazing words and the last thing she felt were those perfect lips on her cheek, then she figured it wasn’t such a bad way to go.

* * *

“I love you.”

Diana couldn’t do anything more than stare at Akko, whose cheeks were dyed the deepest red she’d seen them, whose eyes were earnest and sincere, and who had absolutely no reason to be thanking her in that moment. All that had happened was an uncharacteristically quiet and shy Akko had pulled Diana aside in the late evening so that they could ‘talk in private’ in the gardens.

This wasn’t just gratitude.

“A-And I know I say it a lot,” Akko continued, wringing her hands together as her eyes danced between Diana and a nearby flower patch, “but this time I really mean that I do, uhm, _love_ love you. L-Like ‘I wanna take you out on a date’ k-kinda love.”

This…this was _real,_ Diana realised. This was _actually happening._

Oh god, she was going to faint.

In any other circumstance, with her emotions as overwhelmingly powerful as they were now, she honestly might have. But in this context, with something so dire at stake, with Akko depending on her to woman up and _say something_, Diana endured.

Her hands were trembling, her knees felt like jelly and her heart was pumping so powerfully she couldn’t hear anything else, but she endured nonetheless.

Because finally, _finally,_ she could answer those words the way she’d always wished to, in the context she’d dreamt of but never thought would truly come to pass. And so, she did.

Moving in closer to Akko, Diana cupped the brunette’s cold cheeks and smiled as she stared into those beautiful rubies. Taking a breath to gather her courage, she whispered out the words she’d been holding within her for far too long.

“I love you too, Akko.”

Akko’s smile lit up the darkened sky with the sheer force of its strength, and Diana could feel that her own was no different.

Having finally gotten those words out, Diana found that the intensity of her emotions were dying down, and the overwhelming warmth of love she’d grown so familiar with was calming too - certainly not diminishing, but rather mellowing out and leaving room for her to breathe for once, finally satisfied that she had spoken her true feelings.

What happened next came naturally, as they leaned into each other and brought their smiles together into a joyful, heartfelt kiss. It was every bit as sweet and perfect as Diana had imagined it would be, and as Akko’s arms wrapped around her neck and her own arms snaked around the brunette’s waist, her heart swelled with pure, unfettered happiness.

Because from now on, she’d be able to hear those perfect words directed towards her in the way she’d wished for so long, from the person she’d desired for so long. From now on, she wouldn’t have to bite her tongue to stop herself from blurting out her feelings in reply. From now on, she was free to love Akko in return.

For those things and more, Diana felt truly grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I'm sorry if it seems inconsistent at times, turns out starting your first year at Uni is busy work (who knew?) so I was on and off with writing it for a bit, but I just had to get this cute idea down before my muse ran off again.


End file.
